British football fans and locals clash in Marseille as Euro 2016 opens

LONDON: Police intervened to halt skirmishes involving British soccer fans and locals in the port city of Marseille overnight, just hours before the Euro 2016 championship opens in France.

A police official said that two British fans were injured and four police officers slightly hurt in a string of incidents in the southern French city, one of several locations that will be hosting the month-long tournament.

Paris, in contrast, hosted a massive music concert near the Eiffel Tower where tens of thousands of revellers danced late into the night, with no immediate reports of major trouble.

The police official said the Marseille incidents involved scuffles between about one hundred Britons and 50 or so local residents.

The Euro championship was set to open later on Friday with France facing Romania under tight security at the Stade de France stadium north of Paris.